Mike Tannenbaum admits to changing ‘Get Up’ take after angry texts from Bill Parcells

Twenty years after working under Bill Parcells, Mike Tannenbaum is still taking orders from his old boss in Bill Parcells.

The ESPN analyst recently revealed on This is Football with Kevin Clark that he completely flipped his on-air position during a Get Up segment after receiving a pair of disapproving text messages from the legendary head coach.

Tannenbaum was on Get Up, taking a player-friendly stance about contract disputes, suggesting teams should let unhappy players go if they don’t want to be there. The producers liked his answers so much they told him through his earpiece to stick with the same approach when they repeated the segment in the following hour.

Then his phone lit up.

“I once got a text from him at 8:52 and 8:53, and we were talking about a player,” Tannenbaum explained. “And for whatever reason, that day I was a little more pro-player, like, ‘Hey, Greeny, if this player doesn’t want to be here, they should let him go.'”

Parcells didn’t love that answer. The Pro Football Hall of Famer sent two texts calling Tannenbaum an embarrassment, telling him to never tell anyone he worked for him, and reminding him that a contract is a contract.

By the time the 9 o’clock hour rolled around, Tannenbaum was singing a completely different tune.

“Well, I get up. I have a pit in my stomach… Greeny’s like, ‘Hey, Mike, what do you think they should do?’ I’m like, ‘A contract’s a contract.’ I did a complete 180.”

Mike Tannenbaum admitted he told his wife afterward that he felt like he was “married to the mob” and that he had “this pit that I let him down.” The most striking part? He hasn’t worked for Parcells in two decades, yet the Big Tuna’s disapproval still carried enough weight to make him abandon his position on live television.

This wasn’t an isolated incident, either. Tannenbaum revealed that he talks to Parcells “all the time” and often discusses upcoming on-air topics with him because “his perspective is so insightful.”

“That’s Bill. I talk to him all the time. I talk to him a lot about things we’re going to talk about on the air because his perspective is so insightful and so, just like to cut through it. I’m just so fortunate how much he’s taught me,” Tannenbaum said.

The next time you hear Tannenbaum suggest trading half the Lions roster for Myles Garrett or wonder why his takes sometimes sound like they’re coming from 2003, just remember he’s probably checking his phone to make sure Bill Parcells approves.

Twenty years later, and the Big Tuna is still calling the plays.